Summary of CMS Open Door Forum for Hospice

NAHC Report

November 29, 2923, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) held the Home Health, Hospice, and DME Open Door Forum. Below are key updates that provided for hospice providers. (GO HERE to read the summary for home health providers.)

Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP)

The November 2023 quarterly refresh for the HQRP is now available on Care Compare. Additionally, the HQRP Quarterly Q&A for Q3 2023 is now available.

CMS announced the addition of a new webpage for hospice providers on how to verify and update their demographic information to ensure accuracy.

On November 14, 2023 CMS hosted a webinar that shared hospice-related updates around the Calendar Year (CY) 2024 Medicare Home Health Prospective Payment System (HH PS) Final Rule. Topics discussed included:

• The finalized Informal Dispute Resolution (IDR) process, and
• The finalized Hospice Special Focus Program (SFP) including selection, public reporting, enforcement, completion, and termination.

Hospice Consumer Assessment of Health Providers and Systems (HCAHPS)

The Participation Exemption for Size Form for the calendar year (CY) 2023 CAHPS Hospice Survey data collection and reporting requirements is available to complete and submit on the CAHPS Hospice Survey Web site (www.hospicecahpssurvey.org). Hospices that served fewer than 50 survey-eligible decedents/caregivers in CY 2022 (January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2022) can apply for an exemption from participation in the CAHPS Hospice Survey for CY 2023. The deadline for submission is December 31, 2023.

Marriage and Family Therapists (MFTs) and Mental Health Counselors (MHCs)

On November 2, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized rules related to CY2024 Payments to Physicians under Medicare. Included in the rule are regulations implementing Section 4121 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, which allows MFTs and MHCs to serve on the hospice Inter-Disciplinary Group (IDG) and requires hospices to include one Social Worker (SW), MFT, or MHC to serve as a member of the IDG.

CMS has received many questions regarding the new regulations and will be issuing a FAQ document soon. Additionally, CMS clarified that hospice providers are not required to have MFTs or MHCs on staff but if they choose to do so these clinicians must be employees of the agency. MFTs and MHCs may serve as hospice volunteers if they meet the requirements for a volunteer at § 418.78 Conditions of participation—Volunteer.